


Ballad of a warlock and a shadowhunter

by LittleTurtle95



Series: “Lost Book of the White” Countdown Event [9]
Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Battle, Brother Feels, Demons, Fights, Magic, Major Character Injury, Sibling Bonding, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26192044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleTurtle95/pseuds/LittleTurtle95
Summary: Lost book of the White countdown event.Day nine: battle.“Do it!” Max shouted, his blue hair flying in all directions as he struggled with the whip in his hands. “I won’t last long!”Rafael shook his head firmly. “No! I’d hit you both! I can’t!”“Do it! This is more important than me, you know it!”The demon screamed again and they both had to cover their ears, Max only with his free hand, the other still refusing to let go.“Bluebell, please, I can’t-”“Do it Rafe,” Max said, his blue eyes suddenly calm like a moonless, still, night. “You won’t hurt me. I trust you.”
Relationships: Max Lightwood-Bane & Rafael Lightwood-Bane
Series: “Lost Book of the White” Countdown Event [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890529
Comments: 18
Kudos: 66





	Ballad of a warlock and a shadowhunter

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably weird but I liked the idea of it so yay, I don't regret it!

Full moon was shining on the half burned grass of the field, cold and distant. Faint red sparkles glowed closer to the ground, meaning the gates to hell were open and casting long red shadows that made Max’s skin crawl.

Rafael wiped a brown curl off his forehead and clenched his hands in fists. The fireball hit and the demon screeched, his shriek coming from the deepest corners of hell. 

“Can you see it?” Max asked him, playing with the electrum whip in his hands. 

Rafael looked briefly at him and nodded, his dark eyes firm and focused, his fingertips still glowing with magic. “It’s behind it, we should be able to force it back in without much trouble.”

The active pentacle was lighting up the night, red and big and _wrong_. 

Max took the stele from his pocket and quickly drew a farsighted rune on his upper arm, almost invisible on his blue skin. He glanced behind the demon, leaning slightly on the left, and finally spotted the pentacle. 

He took in a sharp breath. “It’s hideous.”

“They always are,” Rafael said, dryly. 

The air went still for a moment, then the demon hissed and attacked them with blind rage. 

Max yelped in surprise and a flash of energy suddenly shoved him away from the trajectory of the demonic claw, that pierced the ground where he was standing just a moment before. 

Rafael looked stunning, a blue light bright like fire flowing out of his hands, he was looking at him with a small proud smile. 

Max didn’t even have enough time to thank him, because the demon attacked again, more furious this time, its claws hovering over his brother ready to end his life once and for all.

“Rafe! Watch out!” he screamed, and the boy turned his head just in time to see one of the claws lowering towards him, sharp and fast and lethal, when something stopped it mid air.

The whip. 

Max’s whip was laced on the demonic limb, and the boy was using all the power of his strength rune to keep it still. 

“Do it!” Max shouted, his blue hair flying in all directions as he struggled. “I won’t last long!”

Rafael shook his head firmly. “No! I’d hit you both! I can’t!” 

“Do it! This is more important than me, you know it!”

The demon screamed again and they both had to cover their ears, Max only with his free hand, the other still refusing to let go.

“Bluebell, please, I can’t-”

“Do it Rafe,” Max said, his blue eyes suddenly calm like a moonless, still, night. “You won’t hurt me. I trust you.”

Rafael swallowed, then he closed his eyes. He felt his magic bubbling up inside him, and when he heard Max’s startled gasp he opened them again and saw the demon, now free from his restraints, coming after him. He raised his hands silently, pouring all his feelings into it, and a blinding flash of light and energy erupted from him and engulfed the demon whole, throwing it behind like a lifeless puppy. 

He didn’t spend a second thought on it. 

“Bluebell!” he cried, and when a limping Max came in his line of vision he felt his knees weak as relief washed over him. 

“I’m okay,” he said, approaching him unsteady but still fast. “I told you you weren’t going to hurt me.”

“Let me heal you,” Rafael said, brushing his fingers on his brother’s arm, but Max shook his head. 

“Don’t waste your magic. I only need a few iratzes and a good night’s sleep. I’ll be fine.”

Rafael frowned. “It’s not wast-”

Then a scream pierced the air. 

“By the Angel!” Max cursed.

“I really thought I killed it this time,” hissed Rafael.

The demon was standing on his ugly limbs again, and looked seriously pissed off. 

Max turned for a moment and made their fingers brush. 

“Together?”

“Always,” said Rafael, lacing their fingers at last and giving a brief squeeze. 

It was quick after that. 

The demon attacked again and the boys had to part, jumping on either sides of the fields. 

Rafael rolled clumsily on the ground then jumped back up, trying to compose himself, while a fireball formed in his hands.

Max had landed with shadowhunter gracefulness, his feet solid on the ground, light as a cat, his whip cracking. 

The demon fell for the force of its own missed hit and turned, his deadly sharp tail cutting the air with a faint hiss. 

They attacked at the same time, the fire of Rafael’s magic and the burning metal of Max’s whip hitting it as one.

The demon stumbled backwards, its claws blindly rasping in all directions, hurt and confused. Rafe felt a stab in his stomach and gritted his teeth. 

“Yes!” Max cheered. “Now, Rafe! Send it back where it belongs!”

He summed up all the energy he had left. He couldn’t give up now, he couldn’t do this to Max. A last, faint, light violently shoved the wounded demon several feet back, when it fell on the pentacle and screamed.

Rafe moved his wrist, collapsing on the ground, red stars in front of his eyes. 

The light in the portal switched off, the night was silent once again, the demon back where it was meant to be. 

“We did it!” he heard Max shout, loud and happy. “We really did it!”

Rafael was lying down, his hands pressed to the open flesh of his stomach, hissing in pain. 

Max stopped cheering and finally noticed his state. “No,” he cried, stumbling forward, his eyes wide in horror. “No, no, Rafe, please…”

He fell on his knees right next to him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him lightly. “Rafael, talk to me. Talk to me, please! Rafe-”

“It’s okay, bluebell. You’re my little brother, we’ve always known I was the one that had to go first. We knew it from the start. That’s what big bros do, right?”

Max shook his head violently, brushing a brown curl off Rafael’s forehead. “No, I’ll call for help. Mina, Tavy, the Silent Brothers, someone. _Anyone_. You only have to keep fighting. Only a little bit more. It’ll be okay.”

If Max were the one who was hurt they could use iratzes on him, or Rafe could try to heal him with his magic. 

Runes didn’t work on Rafael though, and Max didn’t have magic to heal him with. 

Max dropped his whip on the ground, unused. One hand pressed firmly on his brother’s wound, the other nervously scratching between his horns like he always did when he was distressed. 

Rafe smiled a sad smile and touched his brother’s cheek. “Don’t be sad. I’m not.”

“Rafael, Rafael, please…”

“Tell dad-”

The night turned day and they both flinched, squeezing their eyes to shield them from the sudden light. 

“Dinner’s ready go wash your-” Alec stopped mid sentence, looking at the scene in front of him. “What are you doing, you pests?”

He had a hand still on the light switch and a baffled expression on his face.

“Come on dad, we’re having a moment here! I’m dying, show some respect!” groaned Rafael.

“You stepped on the pentacle,” Max declared in a serious tone, immediately after.

Alec looked down and saw a sheet of paper with a bright red pentacle on it, they must have drawn it with one of the pencils Clary gave Max for his latest birthday. 

He quickly stepped back. “Oh, sorry,” he said, then he looked back at them and added “is that Magnus’ eyeliner? He isn’t going to like that.”

Max had his arm covered in black eyeliner, badly written runes that Alec didn’t recognise except for a few awkwardly scribbled iratzes. 

“Eyeliner? What eyeliner?” Max asked, and with a few blue sparks the evidence was gone. 

“Well played bro,” said Rafael, patting on his brother’s shoulder, still lying on the floor. Max beamed down at him.

Alec was going to say something stern when he tensed suddenly, looking at something on the floor. 

“Here they are! I’ve been looking for them for a week!” he said, picking the earbuds that should have belonged to his phone with a confused smile.

“No!” Max screamed, jumping up from the floor where he was hovering over Rafael and fiercely hugging Alec’s legs. “No, you can’t take it!”

“It’s his whip,” said Rafael calmly, “You can’t take it from him. A shadowhunter can’t be parted from his chosen weapon, you should know it, dad!” 

Alec looked at his earbuds, then at his children again. He sighed. Some fights weren’t worth fighting for. 

“Fine. Here, have your whip. I’ll buy new earbuds,” he said, giving them back to the kid. He accepted them with a bright smile, and Alec was sure he’d made the right choice. 

“Now go wash your hand, _shadowhunter_ ,” he said, patting the kid’s back. 

Max ran towards the bathroom, his hiccup laughs echoing through the loft’s corridors.

“Rafe, please, take that thing off Chairman Meow, he’s not enjoying this.”

Chairman Meow, the designed demon, had a carton claw attached to his tail, undoubtedly one of Rafael’s latest creative ministrations. He was lazily licking his limbs, already used to the boys shenanigans.

“He’s not supposed to enjoy this, dad. He’s a demon, he must suffer.”

“Pets are not toys, Rafe,” Alec said, then he sighed and kneeled down, kissing on the top of the kid’s head. “Come on now, take it off and wash your hands as well, the dinner’s getting cold.”

The boy huffed and Alec passed a thumb on his forehead to wipe off the grumpy frown.

“Okay, okay, I got it, I’ll take it off. Just stop kissing me, it’s gross.” he mumbled and Alec smirked, half fond half amused. 

He stood up and smiled at the boy on the floor. “Don’t be long, dinner’s getting cold,” he said, and closed the door behind him. 

Rafael rolled his eyes and stood up, freeing Chairman meow from his demon costume. 

“Spoilsport.”

**Author's Note:**

> Does it make sense? Was any of you surprised? I hope so lol. If I succeeded please tell me in the comments, that would be much appreciated 🙈


End file.
